Time for Change Survey and Report

19 Notably, students and/or young people showed the highest level of support at 96.5%, followed closely by people who use drugs (96.0%), and both communities had significantly higher support. Support was also high among professionals (95.8%), friends of someone who uses drugs (95.7%), and family members of someone who uses drugs (93.5%; see Figure 3). Figure 3. Support for drug checking programs at music events and fixed sites Wide support for increased availability of drug checking services was also found in SSDP Australia’s #BeHeardNotHarmed Surve y. 7 Among young adults who party and use drugs, 75% would use drug checking services at music festivals/events, and 66% and 63% would use mobile and fixed-site drug checking services, respectively. Respondents indicated wanting to use these services to ensure they consumed the substances they intended to (73%) and avoid any potential negative side effects from consuming adulterated drugs (71%). Importantly, 75% of respondents indicated these services would be their preferred source of drug information if they were available and accessible, with 73% rating this information as very or extremely relevant. Increasing the availability of drug checking services was noted as important for these respondents, with 72% noting inaccessibility as a barrier to accessing drug checking. Recommendation #2 We recommend that all state/territory governments (a) urgently implement fixed-site and mobile drug checking services where services do not currently exist, (b) expand existing services with ongoing funding, and (b) ensure that people who use drugs and peer organisations are centred in the design, implementation, delivery, and evaluation of drug checking services. 7 Stronach O, Farah B & Webb P (2024) ‘#BeHeardNotHarmed National Survey Report.’ Students for Sensible Drug Policy Australia . Available here.